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Urbanization and forest foods in Benin A. Bertrand, G.A. Agbahungba and S. Fandohan Urbanization is driving demand for forest foods, but a stronger regulatory environment is needed if this growing sector is to be sustainable.

The contribution of forests to the gross domestic products of “non-forest” West African countries such as Benin is usually considered to be very low, but this notion does not hold up to scrutiny. Many plant and animal forest products are used as foodstuffs in Benin – but they often do not appear in national accounts because they are harvested and traded informally, either illegal or semi-illegally. Worldwide, the urban population is expected to grow by over 3 billion people to 2050, primarily in less-developed countries, with the result that over 70 percent of the world’s population will be living in cities by

the middle of the century (United Nations Population Division, 2008). An urbanization process is under way in Benin. This article reviews the implications of that process for Benin’s forest sector and especially for the role of forests in the provision of food. Rapid urban development in West Africa Figure 1 shows that, worldwide, the urbanization process is most dramatic in less-developed countries. Sub-Saharan Africa has a large rural population and an emerging trend of urbanization. Figure 2 shows the proportions of the total populations

A man displays the skin of an African rock python (Python sebae) on a rural road in Benin. Snake – caught wild or bred in captivity – is becoming a popular food in urbanizing Benin

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Alain Bertrand is a forestry consultant in Tanger, Morocco, Georges A. Agbahunbga is an independent consultant in environment and development and professor at CIPMA, Cotonou, Benin, and Sylvestre Fandohan is the director of ProCGRN/GIZ, Cotonou, Benin.

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2

2050

2045

2040

2035

2030

2025

2020

2015

2010

2005

2000

1995

1990

1985

1980

1975

1970

1965

1960

1955

0

1950

1

Urban population in less developed regions

Urban population in more developed regions Rural population in less developed regions

Rural population in more developed regions Source: United Nations Population Division, 2008

%

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20

Gabon

Congo

Cameroon

Côte d’Ivoire

Benin

Senegal

Mauritania

Togo

Guinea

Mali

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Madagascar

Burkina Faso

0

Chad

10

Central African Republic

2 Percentage urban of total population, countries of Francophone Africa

3

Rwanda

2008 (the latest year for which such data are available), a range of forest products were economically significant in Benin. Some forest products that were once secondary, such as cashew and shea, have become major agricultural products for export (Gnimadi, 2008). Supply chains with no legal status, such as those supplying small bushmeat, are now common and can no longer be ignored.

4

Niger

Effects of urbanization on forests Urbanization implies a shift in lifestyles and diet patterns, and food acquisition becomes a matter of monetary economics. In the rural areas of Benin, however, on-farm consumption and subsistence farming still prevail. By creating market demand, urbanization can revitalize the production and distribution of forest food products. It can also lead to social diversification as new citydwellers act as distributors and consumers of these products. An influx of urban consumers creates new markets that can be exploited by dynamic rural producers, enabling them to diversify their production and meet the demand for multiple and increasingly processed forest products. Rural entrepreneurs have opportunities to market new products and activities that may previously have been restricted to their family circles (Codjia, Assogbadjo and Mensah Ekué, 2003). Table 1 shows that, in

5

Burundi

in Francophone African countries that are urban. Almost half (45 percent) of Benin’s population is urbanized, although Cotonou (the country’s largest city) ranks only sixteenth in size among West Africa’s urban areas. The trend of rapid urbanization is also strong in many of Benin’s neighbours, including Nigeria, where about 50 percent of the country’s 175 million people (Government of United States of America, 2013) is urbanized.

6

Population (billions)

1 Urban and rural population growth in developed and less-developed countries, 1950–2050

Source: Government of United States of America, 2013

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TABLE 1. Contribution of forests and trees to GDP in Benin, 2008 Product

Notes

Cashew (Anacardium occidentale)

Estimated total annual value added (million FCFA)

Export

53 000

Bushmeat (various species) Woodfuel

28 000 Charcoal

27 886

Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) Shea (Vitellaria paradoxa)

12 430 Butter consumed in Benin

6 466

Timber (natural forests)

2 923

Timber (teak, Tectona grandis)

Export

Shea

Almonds for export

2 753 2 237

Woodcraft

1 898

Woodfuel

Firewood

1 517

Toothbrushes

1 404

Honey

1 281

Cashew

National consumption

980

Néré (Parkia biglobosa)

361

Palmyra palm (Borassus spp.)

293

Live reptiles

127

Medicinal plants

109

Non-conventional farming

86

Irvingia spp.

Fruit

54

Mushrooms

43

Timber (teak)

National consumption

31

Snails (Achatina achatina)

23

Baobab (Adansonia digitata) Irvingia spp.

21 Almonds

21

Service wood

15

Shea

Butter for export

8

Total forestry/trees on farms

143 967

GDP Benin, 2003–2005

2 169 000

Share of forestry in GDP (approx.)

6.6%

Source: Bertrand, Agbahungba and Tonou, 2009

TABLE 2. Relative share of forest subsectors in GDP, Benin, 2008 Forest product group

Forest product

Woodfuel

Firewood, charcoal

29 403

20

Plant forest products used as food in Benin

Breadfruit, shea, honey, cashew, néré, palmyra palm, Irvingia spp. (fruit and almonds), mushrooms, baobab fruit

21 950

15

Animal forest products used as food

Bushmeat, snails, non-conventional farming (agoutis, reptiles, etc.)

28 109

19

Export products

Cashew, teakwood, shea (almonds and butter)

58 124

40

Wood products for use in Benin

Timber (natural forests, teak), service wood, craftwood

4 867

3

Forest health products

Medicinal plants, toothbrushes

Total, forest sector Source: Bertrand, Agbahungba and Tonou, 2009

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Annual value added (million FCFA)

Percentage of total forest sector

This is a major issue in forest policy. Also significant is woodfuel, a forest product that is used daily in most Benin households. Table 2 shows that, combined, plant and animal forest and tree products used as food account for almost 35 percent of the forest sector’s value added, second only to exported forest products and considerably more than woodfuel. The income derived from plant and animal forest products used for food represents over 54 percent of income generated in rural areas by Benin’s forest sector. This finding confirms the major part played by forests in people’s food security (Kadevi, 2001). Forests should no longer be considered primarily for their wood-producing functions (woodfuel, timber and service wood), but also for their essential contributions to feeding communities, particularly disadvantaged groups (Lebel, 2003). Such recognition will require a profound shift in forest policy. Forest food products and supply chains can add to forest productivity without diminishing existing subsectors of the forest industry dealing with wood and wood products (Assogba, 2007). Revenues stay within the rural context Plant food products account for about half of rural forest incomes, followed by woodfuel and animal food products. Rural people constantly seek alternative sources of revenue to complement their income from farming and livestock, and these alternatives often vary according to the comparative advantages of particular areas (and thus certain activities may become locally widespread). A little over one-third of revenues derived from forest products are retained in rural areas.

Development of forest product chains

1 513 143 966

1 100*

* Does not tally to 100 due to rounding.

Urban sprawl induces major social and economic changes in and around cities throughout the hinterland. In Benin, Cotonou’s hinterland extends across the entire national territory and beyond the national borders into the Niger, Nigeria and Togo. Forest-food supply chains are developed in both formal and informal – including illegal – ways (Igué, 1983). Those based on on-farm

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consumption (e.g. fruit such as Irvingia spp. and Saba senegalensis), conventional rural trade (e.g. “miritchi” or palmyra palm sprouts – Gschladt, 1972), traditional medicinal plants and snail-breeding are informal. Given their informality, obtaining economic

data on them, such as the volume and value of outputs and the size of the workforce, is difficult, and it is especially challenging in the case of illegal value chains. The development, upgrading and expansion of traditional chains Many neo-citydwellers feel nostalgic for rural life after their urban migration, and this sense of nostalgia is fostering the spread of traditional foods into urban markets. In the past, such foods were restricted to market villages in production areas (Delvaux and Sinsin, 2003); thus, urbanization tends to

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expand the spatial and sociological coverage of traditional-food consumption. For example, sprouts of the palmyra palm essentially cultivated in backyards in the north of Benin (e.g. Collines, Atacora and Alibori departments) and the south of the Niger are now

transported all the way to Cotonou, where they are cooked (by boiling) for consumption. Therefore, consumption extends to urban areas and reaches new consumer groups. The baobab fruit is used as a supplementary food for infants in rural areas. With urbanization, new enterprises are helping to promote the remarkable nutritional benefits of this food. In Cotonou, some small-scale enterprises offer powdered infant formulas, while others sell energy drinks in pasteurized bottles. These enterprises have developed both innovative technologies and new products, which are marketed through an

A man sets out baobab fruit for sale on a roadside in Benin. With increasing urbanization, new enterprises are helping to promote the remarkable nutritional benefits of this food

increasing number of neighbourhood convenience stores in Cotonou. Baobab juice is also served at coffee breaks and in cocktails. Other conventional sectors, such as beekeeping, are being upgraded with the adoption of more efficient techniques to expand production and markets.

Small bushmeat, a major illegal segment The term “small bushmeat” refers to products derived from small-sized animals collected traditionally in the wild for food use. It encompasses diverse species of birds, snails, rodents (such as grasscutters, Thryonomys swinderianus, also known as cane rats),

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reptiles, amphibians, insects, shellfish and molluscs (Sinsin and Sinadouwirou, 2003). The harvesting, sale and consumption of small bushmeat is illegal in Benin, but most Cotonou restaurants and food stalls sell ready-cooked small-bushmeat dishes. Although the consumption of small bushmeat is widespread, the supply chain has no legal status. It is not studied, documented, controlled, guided or administered by the official forestry authority. The small-bushmeat market, invisible but pervasive and known to all, thrives illegally, the result of centuries-old bans, complacency and deficiencies in state control. Since colonial times, Benin’s for-

est authority has fought small-scale rural customary hunting. Repeated bans have encouraged poaching and reinforced the symbolic value of bushmeat consumption.

Urban migration and new citydwellers have extended the small-bushmeat market, and multiple supply channels have adapted to all combinations of resources (e.g. various wildlife species and geographical locations) and demand (e.g. short supply chains, cured meat and restaurants). New production segments: grasscutter, reptile and snail farming New production modes based on small bushmeat are developing to meet urban demand. Specialized breeding farms have been created with significant funding and sophisticated technologies.

Grasscutter meat is highly prized and popular in both urban and rural areas (Sodjinou and Mensah, 2005). Rising demand exceeds supply, estimated at about

200 000 heads per year, equivalent to approximately 500 tonnes of meat (Igué, 1991). Although hunting supplies the majority of grasscutters, Benin has been a pioneer in grasscutter farming since 1985 (Kamoyedji, 1999), and captive-breeding techniques were developed several decades ago (Mensah, 2003). Grasscutter meat is marketed at sales points spread throughout urban areas. Mensah (2006) underscored the lack of industrial processing facilities, however. For other wild species, such as porcupines, the domestication process (especially the challenge of captive breeding) is ongoing. Sales of reptiles are increasing rapidly – not only farmed crocodiles (for both leather and meat) but also native snake species Baskets of achatina snails are ready for sale in a market in Cotonou, Benin

©G.A. AGBAHUNGBA

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for meat production and live export. With urbanization, customary bans prohibiting consumption among ethnic groups are disappearing, and the sale and consumption of snake meat is becoming commonplace (Toudonou, Mensah and Sinsin, 2004). The consumption of achatina snails (Achatina achatina, also known as the giant Ghana snail) is also growing rapidly (Sodjinou, Biaou and Codjia, 2003): snail skewers are popular at coffee breaks and cocktail events. Snail farms can produce year-round, although during the rainy season some sales come from wild catches in southern Benin. The supply chain is still limited largely to gathering and rearing, but with rising demand, breeding farms are developing quickly. The annual supply of snails is estimated at 75.5 tonnes of meat, and the sale price is higher than that of fish, beef, sheep and kid goat.

Evolution of forest product chains: domestication, processing and marketing Considerable change is being observed in forest-food supply chains in Benin today, driven largely by urban demand (Igué and Puech, 2008): • a transition from gathering to domestication and farming (e.g. for palmyra palm, mushrooms, snails, grasscutters, snakes and honey); • the structuring of value chains, with well-defined marketing chains; • the development of upstream processing activities between the production and marketing stages (e.g. for palmyra palm, snails, grasscutters, Irvingia spp., néré and shea); • the diversification of sales and consumption channels according to spatial and sociological changes in the urban space. Conclusion Urbanization is inducing structural changes in the demand for forest foods. The growing economic contribution of the forest sector in Benin (FAO, 1999), and especially of forest foods, poses challenges for Benin’s forest administration in redefining public forest policy through a participatory approach

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involving rural communities (Bertrand et al., 2006). There is an urgent need for a new legal and administrative framework that promotes the sustainable management of the forest resource, including the food products now in such high demand, and the domestication of certain bushmeat species. The country cannot afford to overlook the small-bushmeat industry and cannot continue to prohibit the industry if the ban remains unenforced. A top priority is to tackle issues surrounding the small-bushmeat industry through the creation of local wildlife management programmes and local regulation of hunting, with fiscal regulations applying to the bushmeat supply chain. The contribution of forest products to urban food supply should be viewed in the context of food scarcity risks in large cities. What role can the rural, urban and peri-urban forest sectors play in nutrition and health? This public-policy challenge requires much more coordination between the forestry, agriculture (food security) and health (nutrition) administrations. u

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présenté pour l’obtention du Diplôme de Formation Supérieure, Planification Régionale et Aménagement du Territoire, DFS/PRAT, Ouagadougou. Lebel, F. 2003. L’importance des produits forestiers non ligneux pour les ménages agricoles de la région de Thiès, Sénégal. M.Sc. thesis. Québec, Canada, Université de Laval. Mensah, R.M.O.B.A.D-G. 2006. Contribution des institutions de micro finance au financement des exploitations aulacodicoles au Bénin: Cas du PADME. Mémoire de fin d’études, ENEAM/UAC/Bénin. Mensah, G.A. & Ekué, M-R.M. 2003. L’essentiel en aulacodiculture. RéRE/ KIT/IUCN/CBDD. République du Bénin/ Royaume des Pays-Bas.

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Sinsin, B. & Sinadouwirou, T. 2003. Valorisation socio-économique et pérennité du Pentadesma butyracea Sabine en galeries forestières au Bénin Cahiers d’études et de recherches francophones. Agricultures, 12(2): 75–79. Sodjinou, E., Biaou, G. & Codjia, J.T.C. 2003. Commercialisation des escargots géants africains (achatines) dans les Départements de l’atlantique et du littoral au Sud-Bénin. Annales des sciences agronomiques du Bénin. Sodjinou, E. & Mensah, G.A. 2005. Analyse technico-économique de l’aulacodiculture au Nord-Bénin: Déterminants d’adoption. International Forum on Promoting Grasscutter for Business in West Africa, Accra, Ghana, December 2005.

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